The new buses will replace the old ones, which have been plying the city roads, polluting air and creating traffic congestion.

In two separate meetings with BRTC and Board of Investment (BoI), the US investors also proposed its assistance in infrastructure development for modernising inter-city bus terminals in Dhaka, Chittagong, Bogra, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet.

The four-member delegation, led by Chairman of American Transport System Corporation (ATSC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Norbert Von Boode, met BRTC Chairman Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker and BoI Executive Chairman Mahmudur Rahman.

"We want to invest in transport sector on joint venture with BRTC," Norbert Von Boode told the news agency after the meeting with BRTC. "Timeframe to go for investment is largely depending on how fast your government completes formalities," he said, replying to a query.

The ATSC team in the meeting expressed its interest to invest on build-operate and transfer (BOT) system. The BRTC authorities, however, agreed in principle on the ATSC proposal if there is no objection from the government, meeting sources said.

"You have shortage of hard currency. But we can somehow manage the money and financing is not difficult at all," he said, adding that his organisation itself wants to operate the buses until repatriation of the invested money.

He said they would hand over the buses to BRTC forever after the expiry of the BOT period if they were allowed to go for such kind of investment.

In reply, BRTC chairman mentioned different investment rules and assured the delegation of full repatriation of the investment with profit.